Homeless hailed as heroes in Manchester attack

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom — A homeless man begging at the Manchester Arena as the suicide attack went off was being hailed as a hero Tuesday after cradling a dying woman in his arms.

Chris Parker, 33, had been begging in the arena foyer where suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his device late Monday, killing 22 people.

Amid the carnage and chaos as people began to leave the concert by US pop star Ariane Grande, who has a large teenage girl following, he rushed to help victims.

Stephen Jones, 35, who had been sleeping rough near the arena in the northwest English city, also ran to help deal with the gruesome aftermath.

Members of the public have raised thousands of pounds (dollars, euros) to pay them back for their heroics.

A tearful Parker recounted: “I heard a bang and within a split second I saw a white flash, then smoke and then I heard screaming.

“It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away my gut instinct was to run back and try and help,” he told the Press Association news agency.

“There was people lying on the floor everywhere.

“I saw a little girl… she had no legs. I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said ‘where is your mum and daddy?’ She said: ‘my dad is at work, my mum is up there’.”

He said he thought the mother had died.

‘I haven’t stopped crying’

Parker, who has slept rough in Manchester for about a year, regularly goes to the arena to beg for change as crowds head home from the 21,000-capacity venue.

He said he tended to a woman who died as he tried to comfort her.

“She passed away in my arms. She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family,” Parker said.

“I haven’t stopped crying.

“The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids’ concert.

“There were nuts and bolts all over the floor. People had holes in their back.

“It’s the screams I can’t get over and the smell… I don’t like to say it but it smelled like burning flesh.”

A crowdfunding webpage set up for him has raised more than £10,000 ($13,000, 11,600 euros).

The page was set up by Michael Johns, who said he felt compelled to help “one of our most vulnerable in society who showed great selflessness and courage”.

Johns said he was not yet in touch with Parker but was trying to track him down through journalists who spoke to him.

‘We need to give back’ 


Jones, a former bricklayer who has been sleeping rough for more than a year, recalled wiping blood from children’s eyes after dashing to help.

“It was a lot of children with blood all over them, crying and screaming,” he told ITV television.

“We were having to pull nails out of their arms and a couple out of this little girl’s face.”

Jones said it was “just instinct” to help.

“If I didn’t help I wouldn’t be able to live with myself walking away and leaving kids like that,” he said.

A crowdfunding page for Jones has also raised £10,000.

“Just because I’m homeless, it doesn’t mean I haven’t got a heart,” he said.

“There’s a lot of good people with Manchester who help us out and we need to give back too.” CBB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

2 bombers blow themselves up after police stop in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey—Two suicide bombers blew themselves up after refusing to surrender to police during an operation in the outskirts of the capital Ankara Saturday, a senior official said. No one else was killed or hurt.

Governor Erkan Topaca said police, acting on a tip, launched an operation to catch a man and a woman who were suspected of planning a suicide car bombing in Ankara. They were hiding inside a hut at a horse farm in the district of Haymana, just outside of the capital.

“Police called on them to surrender. They did not respond in a positive way. They blew themselves up before we could intervene,” Topaca told reporters at the scene.

Topaca said it was “highly likely” that the one of them was linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has carried out a series of suicide car bombings over the past year.

“The organization they are connected to is not clear yet but according to information we have received, it is highly likely that (the man) is linked to the PKK. The way the incident was carried out and planned points at the PKK,” he said.

Topaca said the pair would have carried out a suicide car bomb attack although their target was not known. The assailants had hung a Turkish flag on their car, in an apparent attempt to disguise themselves, he said.

Turkey has been rocked by a wave of bomb attacks since last summer that have killed hundreds of people and been blamed on either the PKK or the Islamic State group.

Fighting between the PKK and the state security forces resumed last year after the collapse of a fragile 2 ½-year cease-fire. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed in clashes, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed in the clashes.

On Thursday, 10 people were slightly wounded by a bomb mounted on a motorcycle which exploded near a police station in Istanbul. On Friday the militant Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, considered an offshoot of the PKK, claimed responsibility. Six people have been detained in connection with that attack.

The deadliest attack took place in Ankara on Oct. 10, 2015, killing 103 people attending a peace rally—including many Kurdish activists. Authorities blamed that attack on the Islamic State group.

Ankara police on Friday announced a ban on all public assemblies city-wide on Monday, the anniversary of the attack.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Amy Perez, 11 other Pinoys affected by Turkey suicide bombing

At least 12 Filipinos were stranded in Turkey after the triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport Tuesday night at about 10 p.m. (3 a.m. Wednesday in Manila).

TV host and actress Amy Perez was among the stranded Filipinos onboard Turkish Airlines Flight 1860.

In an Instagram post, Perez, who was with her husband Carlo Castillo, recounted her experience.

Perez said their flight was diverted to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport in Turkey after the triple suicide bombing at the Ataturk Airport.

After landing at Izmir around 12 midnight, Perez said they were told to stay put for safety reasons. She said they said stayed inside the plane for about two hours.

“May dumating na security but we were advised to stay inside the plane mas safe na daw dito,” she said in an Instagram post.

Perez got the names of the stranded Filipinos on their flight.

Arlene Meyer

Jonalyn Viray

Rio Aldene Frani

Jessie Rey Alquitran

Edwin Flores

Armil Jay Cacayurin

Querubin Red Jr.

Antonio Zafra

Henry Yamongan

May Pioquinto

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source:  globalnation.inquirer.net